Smithsonian 3D scanned Wright Flyer

Smithsonian dinosaur hall

Smithsonian whale fossil 3D scanning

3D scanning technology is proving to be a valuable tool for the conservation and museums industries and one of the most prestigious institutions in the world is doing important work using contactless measurement and imaging devices.

The Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC has been using 3D scanning to complete a daring project to gather digital versions of its entire 137 million-piece collection, including the enormous skeleton of a woolly mammoth, the entire dinosaur exhibit, fossilised whales and the aircraft flown by the Wright Brothers.

Sky News reported that the complex work will include every artefact under the museum's vast roof, regardless of its size or intricacy.

The 1903 Wright Flyer data captured by 3D scanning can now offer an even more accurate view of the craft than visitors to the museum, with the Smithsonian 3D explorer function that can be accessed by any web browser allowing users to get a closer look at the Flyer.

Vincent Rossi, 3D Digitization Coordinator at the Smithsonian, said: "What we have is an ability to take that 3D scan and show the world and let them interact with that data in really interesting ways. You can spin the object around, obviously you couldn't do that if you were in the museum."

3D Digitisation Programme Officer Adam Metello showed the news outlet how the 3D scanning technology works by demonstrating the laser scanning gun mounted on a fixed, articulated arm. The expert explained how the technology captured the detailed features of an Osage Indian mask.

He said: "As I'm painting the laser across the surface it's picking up hundreds and hundreds of points, soon to be thousands and thousands of points, of measurements of the surface of this object."

The data will be archived and could now be sent to any computer in the world, making the Smithsonian's celebrated collection accessible to anybody with a web browser.

Metello added: "The vast majority of the US, let alone the rest of the world, don't get to actually come to our museums, so by digitising them in this way and making our models available in a very visceral way, we can share our collections almost as if people could come to the museums themselves."

In addition to using 3D scanning technology, the project means the entire Smithsonian collection can be 3D printed, potentially seeing copies of the museum's pieces emerging in schools, universities and even people's homes.

The potential of 3D scanning technology is continuing to grow, with archaeologists and conservationists taking contactless measurement and imaging devices to sites and digs, such as the site where 40 five million-year-old whale skeleton fossils were discovered on the Pan American highway in Chile.

The Smithsonian team believes that 3D scanning such discoveries before they are removed will become standard practice, preserving a record of the artefacts and enabling experts to then carry out research remotely.

Mr Rossi said: "This represents a completely new way of documenting archaeological or paleontological sites. What we have is this record of a moment in time that no longer exists and we have a very accurate 3D record."

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